CH 6

One Shot

After we shared this awkward eye contact for a few seconds, Natsukawa then proceeded to gulp down the cookie with no mercy. She then began chewing on it and started to gulp it down. I wanna take a video so badly right now. And in fact, I already opened up my smartphone’s camera app while keeping it in my pocket still.

“…!”

I guess I was being too obvious about my intentions, as Natsukawa grew flustered and covered her mouth with both her hands, turning her back towards me. Yes, yes, very cute. She’s making my heart skip three beats at the same time. It’s a top speedrun, and she’s the world record holder for making my heart race. Natsukawa seemingly finished gulping down the cookie as she turned around on the spot and approached me with loud footsteps. She had a somewhat disgruntled expression on her face, too. Am I gonna get scolded…?

“…”

“Wau!”

Natsukawa boxed my chest with her right fist without uttering a single word. Rather than this act in itself, the very thought of her touching my body made me let out a voice resembling a little puppy’s. Please, won’t you take me in?

“…I…I wasn’t skipping work or anything…!”

“Huh…?”

“The people from the home economics club were doing fine and gave me these cookies when I left…!”

She sounded as if she was trying to make excuses. I glanced at her left arm, which had a bandage wrapped around it, saying ‘Committee Member.’ And at her waist, she carried what looked like a transceiver. Since she said she’d be patrolling around the festival, maybe she’s currently in the middle of that. I see, so she can’t walk around munching cookies.

“And why did you punch me just now?”

“That’s…I didn’t know what to even comment on. Your clothes, the reason you were staring at me, or why you were alone…it was all too much.”

“I see, I see.”

It seems like that attack was a means of letting out her frustration. I get it. If some guy wearing a dog costume spotted you hiding while munching on a cookie, you’d have a myriad of things to point out. If it was me, I’d report the guy to a committee member…Wait, am I gonna get arrested?

“Why even…what happened for you to…and what dog are you trying to be…?”

“I-I don’t know the exact race…maybe a Sheppard?”

My pajamas have brown hair with a white spot on my stomach—Wait, this is a costume. But anyway, Natsukawa grabbed the fabric of my costume to confirm it. At least let me be a cool dog…A Sheppard should be fine, right?

“You’re lying agai—Hm?” Natsukawa looked up at me with a sharp gaze only for her gaze to meet mine and she gasped in shock.

She moved her hand away from me, took a step back, and embraced one of her arms as if to protect herself. Was it that obvious that I wanted to munch her up? Haha…ouch. Following that, Natsukawa averted her gaze, not even knowing of my feelings.

“…Why are you alone? Weren’t you supposed to walk around with Ichinose-san and that junior girl…?”

“W-Well, we had to split up because…Ahhh!!”

“Eeek?! Wh-What…?!”

Crap, this isn’t the time to be talking with Natsukawa! I mean, she’s about as important as my own life, but right now I gotta find Sasaki and warn him about Yuki-chan! I gotta hurry…!

“Natsukawa…Did you…see him?! Did you see Sasaki?!”

“Huh?! S-Sasaki-kun?” Natsukawa returned the question.

She may have seen Sasaki walking around with a girl in the home economics club. And I think she may have been here for a while, so there’s a good chance she saw them.

“What happened to him?”

“5BD! (Five seconds before disaster).”

“…Huh?”

“Ah, well, um…”

Not good! I’m feeling so pressured that I shortened my response to the utmost level, it became an abbreviation! Anyway, I just need to know if she saw him anywhere.

“H-His sister’s here for the festival, and I’m looking for him.”

“I see…”

Calm down, me. Panicking here won’t do me any good. Maybe Natsukawa knows how attached Yuki-chan is when it comes to Sasaki. However, I don’t think she knows how much of a brocon lil’ Sasaki actually is. I really don’t think I should be telling her now in order to ask her for help. If I did, Yuki-chan’s fury might just end up directed at Natsukawa instead. Said Natsukawa began to think with one finger on her forehead but eventually gave me a complicated look.

“Sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen him.”

“I…I see…”

Don’t panic. Take your time and look for him. This is a special event, so there’s a good chance the girl mustered up a lot of courage to ask Sasaki out on a date. If they truly ended up like a couple today, they might spend the second day of the cultural festival as lovers. So maybe this could be…

“Thanks, Natsukawa. I gotta go.”

“Ah, h-hey, wait!”

Although I felt a bit of regret about leaving Natsukawa alone, I made up my mind to keep on searching. However, she didn’t let me go. Not to mention that she seemed pretty desperate while doing that, too. Man, that makes me so happy. My will to prioritize Sasaki over her has dropped drastically. I turned around to face her again, which revealed Natsukawa’s panicked expression.

“So, well…that!”

“That…?”

“Your outfit…Are you gonna wear it tomorrow, too?”

“Hell no.”

Because that question took me so off-guard, I bluntly responded without hesitation. I’m not wearing this because I want to. Let alone a cute girl, I’m not even a handsome young man, so why would I embarrass myself in public any more than I need to?

“Then…let me take one picture!”

“Huh? Wait, why are you taking out your phone…Excuse me, Ms. Committee Member?”

Natsukawa played around with her phone as she walked closer to me. Once she ended up right under my nose, she stopped and adjusted the screen. Her face was red as she panicked a bit. What’s gotten into her? Wait a second, is my first selfie with Natsukawa gonna happen while I look like this?! Seriously?! I don’t know if I should be happy about that or not. I’m feeling like I didn’t check my hair enough when I went to school today. Could we postpone this and meet up in three hours by any chance?

“W-Well, if you want one that badly, then—”

“J-Just like this!”

“Huh?”

“Stay like this!”

I did as I was told and stood still. Not to mention that Natsukawa didn’t even stand next to me and just pointed the camera at me while standing in front of me. Um, Natsukawa-san? Isn’t this the wrong position for you? It’ll be just me in the picture at this rate. However, before I could even say anything, she had already taken one picture. She then moved a step away from me and took another one. Hold on a second, this isn’t what I was promised, right? Wait, she took one already? Just now? From my whole body? Not a selfie? Just me looking like a dog?

“Um…Natsukawa…?”

“Yep…yep…”

“Don’t ‘Yep’ me…Didn’t you ask for only one picture?”

“You didn’t fit into the whole picture, so.”

“Ah, right…”

All I could do was nod and resign myself. Wait, maybe I’m the weird one…? I thought this is the moment when girls take selfies to upload them on social media? I figured this would make for the perfect material, seeing how ridiculous I look right now. Well, Natsukawa herself would already blow up, so I guess I’d be an unnecessary bonus. I tilted my head while lost in thought, when Natsukawa approached me with an apologetic expression.

“Well, um…I’m sorry to keep you here while you’re in a hurry.”

“No, well…I don’t mind, really.”

All right, this is my chance. Get back on track and smile. If I just get five seconds, I should even be able to create a handsome smile. I think lifting up my mouth from the left side would be the best. I did it back in middle school as practice.

“Anyway, I gotta go back to my patrol.”

“Wha…Huh? We’re done…?”

“See you later.”

Natsukawa put her phone away and waved her hand at me as she walked away. As always, she was absolutely adorable. I was the one who wanted to take a picture of her…Wait, no. We’re actually done? No selfie? But…my heart is still aching for it. I feel like she just left me right before the roller coaster drop. What am I supposed to do now?

“……Huh?”

Natsukawa’s back grew more and more distant. Paired with the sweet scent drifting towards me from the home economics room, I took a picture of my own that was engraved in my brain.

*

Ahh…Natsukawa…Aaaaah, Natsukawa. I turned around once again. What a sinful woman she is, grasping my heart like that after a mere few minutes, only to never let me move on in peace. I pulled on the hair on the back of my head so much, I’m worried I might rip it out. I just want to forget all about Sasaki and chase after her. Oh, weird. My legs have turned backward.

I walked through the building with the home economics room and made my way to the west building. Since I rarely come here on a daily basis, just walking through here gives me a feeling of discovering something new. The classrooms I passed by had such an alluring air to them for some reason. It’s like their window frames and doors have not aged a single day since they had been built. As you’d expect, considering the amount of money the school put into this building. The fact that genuine discrimination happened at this school before is only now setting in.

I may belong to the east side, but I don’t have much of a problem with favorable treatment when it comes to equipment and so on. The parents and families of the west side students are donating considerable amounts of money, to begin with, and I’ve got no doubt that some of them were doing it genuinely out of goodwill. But without any worthwhile payout, it makes sense why the rich wouldn’t be willing to throw their money away. Even this year, I heard that their donations grew fewer in number compared to last year’s cultural festival.

If you lose your sense of justice to reach favorable treatment, then there’s no telling what is right or wrong anymore. Naturally, I have no idea how the actual details work, and that’s all on the school to decide. It’s not my place to know.

“Oh my, if it isn’t Yoshino. How pitiful you look.”

“……”

“Hey, Yoshino. Are you listening to me?”

“…?”

I heard a familiar voice and turned around, meeting eyes with what you could call a blonde-haired noble lady-type student. She’s half-English I think, and the fiance of our school’s student council president Yuuki-senpai. I think her name was Shinonome Something Something. Yeah, that’s about all I remember from her. When I looked over at her, our eyes met. And would you believe it, she was smiling at me. However, the person she’s talking to is called Yoshino. That ain’t me. So I just gave her a “Hello. Doing well? Great. Bye.” kind of gaze and was about to walk away.

“Hey! Why are you ignoring me?! How dare you do that to Shinonome Claudine Marika!”

“R-RIght…”

The blonde-haired lady took a step forward and pushed her face towards me. Honestly, it’s a huge help that she dropped her full name right there. And even though she glared up at me like that, the pressure she gave off wasn’t anything to laugh at. Foreign girls are scary…Oh yeah, I should just ask this Yoshino-san for help to get her off me…Huh?

“Um…where is Yoshino-san?”

“Yoshino, what are you saying?”

She looked me directly in the eyes as she called me Yoshino. Hey now…does she think I’m Yoshino? Geez, how could she just forget my name? I can’t believe it! My name is Sajou—

“…Ah.”

Hold on a second. Doesn’t she absolutely hate Big Sis’s guts? Crap, I almost dropped my name here. I’m glad I look like a dog right now. If I was wearing my uniform, then she’d be able to see my nameplate.

“Hello, I’m Yoshino.”

“I am well aware of that. My goodness…your clothes truly fit your IQ, I see.”

“Grk…!”

Th-This woman…! Oh, she can talk big! Just to let you know, but I’ve been diligent when it comes to classes as of late! I’m at least copying stuff from the blackboard. What’s actually written on there…I’ll learn later, whatever!

“S-So…how can this lowly Yoshino be of assistance today?”

“Nothing? I simply called out to a stray puppy walking around.”

“R-Right, then if you’d excuse me…”

“Now, wait.”

“Aw man…”

Even the pressure in her voice was enough to make me stop in my tracks. Yoshino’s in a hurry, ma’am. When I turned around, I saw her crossing her arms in annoyance. I don’t know what kind of superiority complex lets her act that way, but it’s my instinct as a man to stop and listen to her. I can’t help it.

“Y-Yes?”

“Are you aware of tomorrow’s stage plan?”

“Stage plan?”

The second day of the cultural festival is full of school-designated events and attractions. The students would gather in the gym hall to enjoy the great reveal of that program, or so they said. Since I worked with the management, I was fully aware of that. Since I’m part of no clubs or committees, all I’m gonna do is watch, though.

“Well…I know what’s gonna be on the program, at least.”

“Then you must know of the sewing club’s model contest, yes?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty much like a fashion show, right? I’m looking forward to it.”

Once you become a high school student, people expect autonomy from you. The school barely even had any saying in the events present for the festival. So, I’m expecting a lot of skin, yes.

“Then I want you to vote for me.”

“Oh, you’re participating?”

“There is no reason for a beauty like me to not participate.”

Yuck, she’s trying to fix the game. Or, is she? I’m not being offered anything here in return. Well, I don’t really have a reason to decline either.

“Also Milady, you’ve got such beautiful blonde hair mixed with your blood, aren’t you already guaranteed to win?”

“Naturally. However, the other seniors will be voting for friends or other famous students, so it’s not simply a vote by preference. And I have to choose my own methods to win. Also, drop the Milady nonsense.”

“Right…”

I mean, the third-years are gonna take the main role for this kind of event. Even if younger students were to participate, the mood is gonna shift towards the seniors for sure. Being in the winner group as a first-year is already plenty amazing.

“So, will you vote for me?”

“Well…why not, I guess.”

Nobody I know participates in the event, so I was just thinking of throwing my vote at whoever I liked best, but that’s fine, too. When a girl tells me to vote for her, rich lady or not, there’s nothing stopping me from doing so. Plus it saves me from giving it too much thought.

“I see. Very well. Then you are free to go.”

“Thanks…?”

She shunned me away like I was some stray cat following her. Since I knew how she ticked, I wasn’t even feeling particularly agitated at that. If anything, it feels like I’ve touched an entirely different world. It’s…modern society! Showing any glimpse of resistance would only work against me, so I decided to leave peacefully. I’m in a rush anyway, I almost forgot again.

“…Hm?”

As I kept on walking, a certain thought crossed my mind and I turned around again. She still had her arms crossed with a dignified expression on her face. Before, she had a group of girls with her, but now she was all alone, during a festival of all times. My, she’s a loner today? Well, if that was the case, then she’d probably have a much gloomier expression. But the more my legs sped up to search for Sasaki, the faster my sympathy disappeared.